Vector illustration can produce beautifully clean, precise artwork, but the results can also be a bit soulless. Here Mark Oliver creates those clean, precise shapes and then ‘grubbies’ them up for a more organic retro look.

In this tutorial we’ll be creating a semi-realistic wooden palette for painting. We’ll use some basic shapes along with simple freehand drawing, and then we’ll add spectacular effects, making the palette look more real with the help of the Image Trace function that will help us to add some texture to our image.

This tutorial will take you through my design process of creating a simple illustration of a water gun. The entire design is made from Illustrator’s basic tools, then the Live Paint tool is used to add colour.

In this tutorial we’ll go through the process of creating a stylish smartphone case with a colorful, detailed owl. We’ll work with gradients to create a vivid color palette, use the Blend Tool to simplify the process of making the feathers, and add some mesh and other effects to give our case a completed look.

In this tutorial we’re going to take a cute character from starting sketch to finished product using Adobe Illustrator. We’ll be focusing on how to achieve an efficient workflow and how to use the Eraser Tool in a creative way, as well as creating unique brushes and giving our finished design a handmade, distressed effect.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a laurel wreath vector with the help of the Pathfinder panel, Blend Tool and Art Brush feature. The techniques described here will help you to easily create any shapes of wreaths, such as wheat, olive leaves and oak leaf wreath.

In this tutorial we’re going to use nothing but Illustrator’s Blend tool to create a wireframe that’s so detailed you would think it was made in a complex 3D programs. By just drawing a few basic paths with your mouse, Illustrator can generate a series of intricate lines that resembles an animal skull.

In the following steps you will learn how to create a simple darts arrow illustration in Adobe Illustrator. For starters you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create the main shapes using basic tools, some simple effects and the Live Corners feature.

Give dimensional text this fun twist by rendering outlined text into a 3D see through text effect. Perfect for poster designs, greeting cards, and more! Add gradients to really make your design pop out from the page in under 30 minutes flat.

In this tutorial we’ll create a set of flat animals made from simple shapes in Adobe Illustrator CC. Using rectangles, triangles, circles, Live Corners, and a few squiggly lines, we’ll create a whole zoo of creatures ready for the Pattern Options panel and various printed products.

In this tutorial we’ll go through the process of creating a lighthouse icon in a trendy flat style using Affinity Designer. We’ll be using simple shapes, such as rectangles and ellipses, and manipulating them with Boolean Operations to transform the shapes.